Change of Course
by California Mountain girl
Summary: INCOMPLETE! sorry mates. Will Turner was NOT saved by Elizabeth Swan all those years ago. He was saved by a recently saved pirate named Jack Sparrow. Soon Will and Elizabeth's paths will cross AGAIN! ABSOLUTELY NO SLASH!
1. Default Chapter

***Change of Course***  
  
(A.N. Alright mates. This is an A.U. of what would happen if he wasn't picked up by the ship those years ago.)  
  
----Prolog  
  
The dark mists hung eerie over the vast seas of the Caribbean. A lone British ship sailed silently through the fog and passed through the air like the only humans left in the world full of ghosts.  
  
"Yo-ho, Yo-ho." Young Elizabeth sang under her breath. "I pirates life for me."  
  
Suddenly a large hand was placed on her shoulder. A Mr. Gibbs bent low, hissing through his teeth. "Quiet, missy, cursed pirates sail these waters. You don't want to bring them down on us now, do ya?"  
  
Elizabeth looked up at him with the wide eyes only a ten year old could have.  
  
"That is enough Mr Gibbs." Her father said, seeing that the large sea-man was frightening his daughter. "Go below Elizabeth."  
  
Elizabeth looked up at her father and grimaced. It was hot and muggy in the hull, and it stank. "But father-"  
  
"Just do it Elizabeth." He said, unswaying. "Go below."  
  
Elizabeth sighed, turning and heading down to below decks.  
  
Mr. Gibbs watched her go. "Thankye Governor."  
  
"I did it for her own safety." Mr. Swan said indignantly. "Not to appease your weakness in superstition."  
  
No sooner that Mr. Swan said these words, the fog parted and adrift but sinking quickly they saw the burning wreckage of British merchant vessel. There were no calls from the burning bridge of the burning ship. Only an eerie silence that made each officer and sailor on the still sailing ship cringe.  
  
"What happened here?" Governor Swan muttered finally. "It's most likely the powder magazine. Merchant vessels run heavily armed." A young Norrington said answered quietly, his eyes still on the burning wreckage. "Should we search for survivors?" Governor Swan asked. "Of course." Norrington said, returning from his pensive state back into action. "Lower the long-boats!" He ordered.  
  
Quickly sailors were put to work, and they searched the murky waters for survivors. However, they would find none. The pirates had done a thorough job. Or at least both parties had thought they had. Nobody noticed the small unconscious boy adrift on a piece of floating wreckage. Eventually the British ship would again continue on it's course and never look back. It would seem quite hopeless now for the boy. But by a chance of luck, or perhaps fate, out of the mists emerge a small boat. And in that boat, was a pirate. The pirate, rugged looking and groggy from 'borrowed' rum, pulls the boy aboard. He gets the water out of the kid, and learns that the child's name is Will Turner. "Pleased to meet ya mate." The pirate said, shaking the boy's hand. "Jack Sparrow's my name." He sat a little straighter. "That'd be CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow." Will looked up at him with big unknowing eyes.  
  
"Ye never heard of me?" The teenage Jack cocked an eyebrow. "Oh well." He finally admitted. "You will."  
  
---CHAPTER ONE!---- ***TWELVE YEARS LATER*** The two ships engaged in a battle fierce and bloody. Under the blue sky cannons thundered and smoke wafted on the ocean breeze. The Black Pearl and a Spanish merchant vessel fought on, while the merchant vessel had many more guns, the Black Pearl was fast and easily maneuverable.  
  
"Forward men!" Will Turner shouted above the thundering of the cannons. "Take their gold, their hope, and make them wish they never sailed the seven seas!"  
  
The crew of the Pearl heard this familiar sentence from their first-mate and felt courage.  
  
Will Turner, cutlass in hand, jumped over the rail of the Pearl, and into a whole squad of Spanish Marines. They looked at him with surprise and fear, but by the time they raised their swords it was too late. Will fought with the fury of the might only a man with years of practice, and reflexes faster than a wolf could.  
  
He was much changed from the boy who had floated on that piece of wreckage. He was tall, had black hair that was put into a pony tail at his neck. Not to mention the golden ring in his right ear. He was the very image many put into the category of pirate, a two-day fuz on his lean face, and a red sash. There were only two people he took orders from in the world. The first was himself, and the second being his captain, Jack Sparrow.  
  
"We have them beat Will!" Jack yelled from the other side of the deck.  
  
Will smiled. "Aye Captain!" He slashed at another Spanish Marine killed him instantly. He scanned the deck, there were holes in the ship and smoke was everywhere. Will made eye contact with a poshy Marine, and the man melted under his gaze.  
  
"Es Fin!" The Spaniard yelled. "Es Fin!" *Is over* Throwing down his sword, the Spaniard gave up.  
  
Jack jumped down to where his first mate stood. "What do ye think of her Will?"  
  
Will looked at the merchant vessel. "I think she made a good catch." He said.  
  
Jack laughed at his friend. "Good is an understatement mate. I've been below decks, and there's a treasure box over three feet in length!"  
  
Will's tan features curved up into a smile. "You know what this means?" He asked.  
  
"That I do matie." Jack answered. "Vacation!"  
  
Laughing, Will and Jack watched as the rest of the crew of the Pearl boarded the merchant vessel. "Port Royal is our next destination." Jack said, hitting Will on the back.  
  
Will nodded, laughing. "Can't wait."  
  
"Now," Jack said, as if returning to business. "Return to the Pearl, I gotta make some negations with our captives." He eyed the rich Spanish already being herded up onto the main deck, seeing many jewels and fat purses. "I'll be back shortly."  
  
"Yes sir, Captain!" Will said, jumping up and then crossing over to the Pearl again.  
  
A rich woman, one of the direct descendants of the King of Spain turned to her rather pudgy husband who was already suffering from the heat and hurting feet. "Do you know who that was?" She asked excitedly.  
  
Her husband shook his head. "No."  
  
"That was the famous Jack Sparrow, and Will Turner the Pirate!" She said, her eyes following Will's broad shoulders out of site and onto the Pearl. "The most feared pirates on the Caribbean!"  
  
Jack, who had overheard all of this, swaggered up to her. "You better believe it lass." He said, putting his face close to hers. "But as pirates go, young Will is the worst sort." He waited for a reaction and definitely got it because the woman gasped audibly. This, of course, urged him on in his mischief. "He'll gutcha innards, throw them to the sharks, and take that pretty head of yours and hang it on the bow of the ship if I let him. Where it would be pecked at by sea-gulls."  
  
"Really?"  
  
Jack nodded. "Yes love. Really."  
  
The woman's eyes widened so large it was almost disgusting. "Seagulls!" She gasped. Then, her eyes rolled up into her skull, she fainted dead.  
  
Her husband didn't even bother to catch her.  
  
Jack watched her fall, and burst into laughter. "Sea-gulls!" He said in a squeaky voice. "Shiver my timbers." He turned to her husband. "Now for your purse Senyor. And make it quick. I've got an appointment at Port Royal."  
  
TO BE CONTINUED! (A.N. I PROMISE!) 


	2. chapter TWO

Chapter Two!  
  
(A.N. well, here it is, the next chapter or at least the second chapter of this marvelous epic...I guess.)  
  
***Port Royal***  
  
The sun beat down on the highly popular port with all the color a bright summer afternoon could offer.  
  
In a busy marketplace half of the crew of the Black Pearl ate and drank at an open café. Will glanced at his best friend, who sat across the table. "We ought to get out of here soon, Brian. Don't want the men to be drunk tonight. Have you checked to see everything's in place?"  
  
"Everything's ready mate." Bryan Forsane was just as tall, just as handsome, and just as broad-shouldered as his best friend. However, he was several years older than Will. He also had a thin crazy smile that warned many of his conniving that so far his friend, Will, had not truly understood. Bryan had dirty blonde hair, and grey eyes.  
  
Will gulped down the rest of his cheap rum. He slammed the cup down on the table giving a little bit of a grunt of content. "I guess it's off to the ship." He reached for his purse when Brian chuckled, and Will looked up to see what was going on.  
  
"Look at that." Brian said slowly, staring out across the marketplace.  
  
"What?"  
  
Brian grunted." You would think the first-mate would have a sharper eye." Finally, he pointed at the spectacle that had caught his attention. "Why you are the first-mate I'll never know."  
  
Will looked up at what his best friend was pointed at, and his mouth dropped. What he saw was a girl, NO, make that a woman. Wearing a white dress that flowed around her like angel wings. She had a lithe body, a long neck, and brown hair. She was looking at some of the outdoor markets, undoubtedly buying trinkets. From her clothes, Will instantly knew that she belonged to the upper class.  
  
Brian turned to his friend with a mean grin on his face. "I've got an idea matie."  
  
Will glanced at Brian.  
  
Brian raised his eyebrows. "Slap her."  
  
"What?"  
  
"On the butt." Brian was dead serous behind his sly smile.  
  
"How will that do anything?" Will asked.  
  
"Then I knock you out." Brian finished.  
  
Will frowned. "You knock me out?"  
  
"Instantly gaining her favor." He waited while Will paused for a moment, then slapped him on the back. "Unlike you mate, I have a clever mind. One day you might learn." He sighed. "But that's not today."  
  
"Not a chance in Hades." Will answered.  
  
"Come on mate!" Brian said. "You're letting her get away."  
  
Will sighed, supposedly giving up. "Alright."  
  
Brian laughed. "Let's go."  
  
Will and Brian headed around the café. Soon they were walking toward her, and Brian was the first to make eye-contact. He wiggled his eyebrows, and the woman looked away immediately. But she glanced at Will, and returned his smile. Success.  
  
As soon as they were passed her, Will swung his arm down and hit her solidly on the bum. In the same instant aiming a punch at Brian's jaw.  
  
Will watched him fall, then shook his head. "Sorry mate." He chuckled. After all, all's fare in love and war. And THAT was the reason he was first mate.  
  
Elizabeth Swan turned around angry and her fists swinging. "How DARE you!" With that, she launched a punch at Will's VERY surprised face.  
  
"Whoa!" Will shouted, dodging her fist. "Easy! I didn't do it!"  
  
Elizabeth felt herself start to shake, but decided to stay yet another socking punch. "Who did then!" She asked through her gritted teeth.  
  
Will glanced down at Brian's unconscious body, as if asking, who-is-that- guy-anyway?  
  
Elizabeth looked at the body in the dirt. "Friend of yours?"  
  
Will coughed. "What? No!"  
  
Brian groaned.  
  
Will shook his head. "Never saw him before in my life."  
  
Elizabeth sighed. "Then I guess I owe you my thanks."  
  
"I guess so." Will smiled.  
  
Elizabeth returned his smile. "Well then, thank you."  
  
Will bowed. "Always a pleasure to assist. By the way, what is a woman of your rank doing out and among the market of the sea-port?"  
  
Elizabeth laughed lightly. "Now ask yourself, is it really your business?"  
  
"Oh." Will leaned in closer. "You know My Lady, it tisn't safe." He glanced around. "Who knows. There might even be pirates about."  
  
Elizabeth lifted an eyebrow. "Pirates?"  
  
Will nodded. "Oh yes."  
  
"In Port Royal?"  
  
"Yes indeed."  
  
Elizabeth smiled. "I highly doubt it."  
  
"You can never know." Will said, matter-of-factly.  
  
Elizabeth shook her head, still not believing that there could even be a possibility of a pirate in Port Royal.  
  
"Now it looks to me that you need a-" For the first time Will felt himself falter. He looked up at her, and tried to remember the last time he had faltered talking to a girl. "An escort." He said finally, feeling slightly foolish. "If you wish, I could. Escort you, I mean."  
  
Elizabeth took in a breath, if he had continued in his clowning; she certainly WOULDN'T let him accompany her anywhere. Whatever that act was, it wasn't his. But he looked up at her with a look that reminded her of merely a man wanting to walk with her. "Very well." She said finally. "I would appreciate it greatly."  
  
***LATER***  
  
The sun was already sinking behind the ocean. However, the two new acquaintances were still on their walk, and quite forgetting that they hadn't known each other since the pre-existence.  
  
Will and Elizabeth walked along the docks, where the fishermen houses were. Will jumped up onto the brick wall they stood beside and sat down, facing Elizabeth.  
  
"-But you must have some sort of dream you want to accomplish." Elizabeth laughed.  
  
"Well." Will nodded. "I want to eventually have my own fleet one day. And I think I will too."  
  
Elizabeth nodded. "So I guess you're a sailor then?"  
  
"Wasn't it obvious?"  
  
"I guess." Elizabeth said. "Almost all men in Port Royal are either sailors or something else. But since I've never seen you before I guessed you were a sailor."  
  
Will paused.  
  
"Aren't you?" Elizabeth asked quietly.  
  
After a moment, Will smiled. "I sail the seven seas." There was another uncomfortable pause. "So what about you?"  
  
"Me?" Elizabeth was surprised.  
  
"What do YOU hope to accomplish?" Will asked. "Besides marrying the Commodore, or something silly like that."  
  
Elizabeth sighed. "I don't know."  
  
"Oh come." Will said. "I'm your new best friend, who doesn't know your name."  
  
She sighed, picking at the rock wall. "There is not much for me. I am limited in many respects. You would understand this."  
  
"It's like that tis it?" Will asked quietly.  
  
Elizabeth nodded.  
  
"Well, my bonny lass." Will said, getting down from the wall. "When I have my fleet of ships, I'll come and take you away. Then you can do whatever you want."  
  
She smiled. "And you're so sure of everything."  
  
Will, who stood close to her came even closer. "Absolutely."  
  
With that, their lips touched.  
  
Suddenly, as if remembering herself, Elizabeth pulled away. "Oh dear." She said, glancing at the sunset. "I forgot."  
  
Will blinked. "What?"  
  
"The banquet."  
  
"What banquet?"  
  
"At my father's house. I have to go." Elizabeth suddenly turned on her heel and began to walk away.  
  
"Wait!" Will shouted. "When will I see you again?"  
  
"Tomorrow!" Elizabeth yelled over her shoulder.  
  
"But I'm at sea tomorrow! And I don't know your name!" Will shouted back.  
  
Elizabeth turned back to him and paused. "I'll meet you here. When do you come back?"  
  
"Two weeks." Will said.  
  
"Then in two weeks!" Elizabeth began to retreat again.  
  
"But lady!" Will shouted. "Your name!"  
  
It was too late, and she was already gone.  
  
Will sighed, grinning. Brian would be madder than anything when he found out about this. But he had other matters to attend to. Will turned on his heel and began walking toward where the Black Pearl was anchored. After all, he had a busy night tonight, with the kidnapping of the Governor's daughter and all.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED! 


	3. Chapter three! Can you believe it!

Chapter Three:  
  
(A.N. I don't know why chapter two took so long to upload. Oh well.)  
  
**After the Banquet, Governor's Mansion**  
  
Elizabeth quickly slipped into her bedroom, it was gratefully cool and quiet. After hours of endless chatter and the heat of many candles she was exhausted.  
  
Closing the door, she walked into her room and began to slip out of her heavy evening dress. Absently, she left it in a crumpled mess. Elizabeth sighed, taking off her shoes and undoing her hair.  
  
She sat in front of her mirror, and started to laugh at herself. Then she began to laugh at herself for laughing at herself. It was quiet a silly moment. Then she blew out the candle and crawled into bed. Even YOU must know just who she was thinking about.  
  
***On the Deck of the Black Pearl***  
  
The night was pitch-black. There was no moon, and the Pearl glided through the water like some ghostly ship from the past.  
  
Will was at the helm. Both Brian and Jack were in Port Royal, and Port Royal was their destination. After hiding at the farthest spot of the island, the Pearl was coming in the dead of night. Will stood there, the image of a pirate, his hair pulled back, and steady on the deck.  
  
They rounded the corner, and instantly saw the lights of Port Royal. "Ya ready lads?"  
  
"Ready." A pirate answered.  
  
"Powder the cannons." Will ordered. While Jack was away, he was the temporary captain. The crew was obedient.  
  
"The signal?" A pirate asked.  
  
Will paused, watching as the came closer. Soon they'd be spotted and the element of surprise would be lost.  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"Wait!" Will whispered harshly. Then, a tingle crept up his spine. "FIRE!"  
  
Cannon fire made the night light up and the booms rang through the air. The deck shook, and Will Turner, pirate, one of the most feared of the Caribbean, watched as the port received some air-holes. He smiled. "Steady on the targets men, we have our own down there!" He nodded, thinking to himself. "Ah yes." He murmured, thinking of who else he didn't want hit by the Pearl's cannons. "One day my lass, with this treasure I'll return. Without a price on my head."  
  
*** Elizabeth's Bedroom***  
  
Something so loud made Elizabeth's bedroom shake. She sat up, her heart beating a million a minute. Suddenly, a maid burst through the bedroom door.  
  
"Malady!" She said breathlessly. "We're being fired upon!"  
  
"By who?" Elizabeth asked, getting out of bed and slipping on a robe.  
  
The maid's eyes widened further in her pudgy face. "Pirates!"  
  
Elizabeth's lips became thin and drawn. She tied the robe's waist-band around her, and bent down next to her bed. From underneath she pulled a long box, and opening it she pulled out a saber. She looked up at the shaking maid. "Your wages aren't worth your life. Thank you for warning me. But this isn't a safe place. Leave immediately!"  
  
The maid didn't need to be told twice. However, still she hesitated. "But what are you going to do?"  
  
Elizabeth got to her feet, hefting the saber. The house suddenly shook from the impact of a cannon-ball and she nearly fell to her knees, but kept her balance. "Find my father."  
  
***Entrance to the Governor's Mansion***  
  
Jack (Excuse me) Captain Jack Sparrow, plowed through the half-dozen English soldiers without so much as blinking. Brian was right behind him.  
  
"So what do you think?" Jack asked. "Shall we knock?"  
  
Brian paused, a strange look crossing his face.  
  
Jack rolled his eyes. "No!" With that, he took a muskat from a crumbling soldier and aimed it at the lock of the two lodge doors and fired. With a well placed kick, the pirates were in the foyer of the govoner's mansion. "Come on mates!" Jack yelled. "Find the lass, and take her to the Pearl." Suddenly, Jack found himself looking down the barrel of a muskat.  
  
"Over my dead body." A haughty voice answered.  
  
Jack looked up. "Well, if it isn't the commodore. Care to join us?" "I'd sooner die than join a pirate's pack." Norrington replied. "Pirates are villainous, vulgare, and-" He paused, wrinkling up his powdered nose. "Foul-smelling."  
  
Jack motioned for Brian to keep moving, and the younger man obeyed the orders, leading the others away.  
  
"Foul smelling?" Jack asked, straightening. "I hope you know mate, that you have just insulted me."  
  
"It wont be the last time." Norrington said, putting away his pistol, and drawing his sword.  
  
"Perhaps someone else will make the same mistake." Jack smiled, shrugging. "But not you. I only let my friends insult me."  
  
"Soon your friends will be in the same place you will." Norrington replied.  
  
Jack lifted an eyebrow. "And where would that be matie?"  
  
Norrington slashed. "A hangman's noose."  
  
Jack met the attack with a balance well hidden in his natural swagger. Grunting he leaned in close. "I don't think so mate."  
  
***Aboard the Black Pearl***  
  
Will glanced off to starboard where a great splash of water erupted from one of the cannon balls fired by the port's English base.  
  
"They're firing on us!" Gibbs shouted.  
  
"I can bloody-well see that!" Will answered. "Gibbs, hard to port."  
  
'Eye sir!"  
  
Will watched as they evaded yet another near miss. Where in hades was Jack?!  
  
"Sir, should we let off more men in long-boats?" Another pirate asked.  
  
"No." Will answered. "They'd only be shot once they got to shore. Keep firing the cannons."  
  
***In the corridors of the Mansion***  
  
Elizabeth ran. She could hear them behind her, their boots thudding against the hard wood floors.  
  
"We're coming for you!" A gruff voice shouted. "We're going to get you bobbet."  
  
She turned and began to run up the stairs and into the library, but she tripped on her nightgown. Looking back she saw a dozen pirates run up to the stairs, and she crawled away as they grasped at her bare feet. Elizabeth's breath caught in her throat as she stifled a scream as she scrambled away and inches out of the pirate's grasp.  
  
Elizabeth ran up and into the library, through the shine of rising moon coming through the windows, and dodging in between countless bookcases. She brushed up against a small cart full of old classics and they fell to the floor behind her. The pirates, jumped over them, but it only took one to fall to bring them all down in a tumbling mass of limbs.  
  
She didn't look back, and kept running until she reached the other side of the library and study. Elizabeth ran up to the large doors, and tried to open them. However, they were locked. Elizabeth didn't hesitate, and beat her fists against them. Until, she heard the pirates right behind her stop, panting and knowing that they had her.  
  
Elizabeth turned around slowly, looking at the drooling excuses for human beings. She raised her sword, and all she got was a loud reaction of snorting and laughter. However, as she took a fighting stance it clearly showed that she had been instructed in the art of sword-fighting from a young age.  
  
Brian Forsane was the one to step out of the crowed. "You're coming with us."  
  
Elizabeth gasped, instantly recognizing him. "Never." She said, glaring and waving the tip of the saber at his face.  
  
Brian looked at the blade, and smirked. Taking a pistol from his belt he took aim at her chest. "I could kill you now. There is little difference whether we take you to our ship dead or alive."  
  
Elizabeth paused.  
  
"Drop the sword." Brian ordered, his tone rough.  
  
Elizabeth blinked, and then found there to be no other choice. Sighing, she dropped the sword to the floor and it landed with a clang. Instantly the pirates bound her hands and they were once again running, this time toward the front door.  
  
***IN The Foyer***  
  
Jack ducked a hard swing at his head, and then dodged a slice at his back. Laughing, he hit the Commodore in the rear.  
  
Norrington yelped, and swung at Jack again, but Jack was even quicker to evade.  
  
"Tisk tisk." Jack said, cocking his head to the side. "Temper, temper."  
  
Norrington, who by now was not in a good mood and not showing his best fencing moves, growled.  
  
Suddenly, the pirates came back, and this time they had Elizabeth in their clutches. Jack motioned for them to exit, and they did. However, Brian was the one to stay.  
  
Jack smiled. Perhaps the lad was of some use after all. Together, they advanced on the Commodore, driving him back until he was up against the fireplace. Unfortunately, for Norrington, there was a roaring fire in the fireplace.  
  
The commodore got close enough to fringe his wig, and then it was unbearable. Shouting in pain he jumped away, beating at his singed rear and hopping to put out the fire that had taken to his bum.  
  
Jack laughed, coming behind Norrington, who was still dancing about. Jack hit the unfortunate Commodore with the hilt of his cutlass, instantly rendering Norrington unconscious on the floor. Jack stood over the downed officer. "That's for calling me foul-smelling." He chuckled, beginning to turn around when-  
  
BOING!  
  
***Aboard the Black Pearl***  
  
They had come about and were no-longer putting cannonball holes in Port Royal. In the shadows of another side of the island, they let on the rest of the crew. Soon the British fighting ships would be in the wake, so there was little time.  
  
Hurrying about, the crew of the Pearl dragged Elizabeth aboard. She fought and kicked and bit more like a shanghaied sailor than the daughter of a governor. The pirates brought her to the main deck and then to the helm where Will stood.  
  
Gibbs reached over, and pulled the bag off of Elizabeth's head. As soon as her eyes focused she stared at the man standing across from her in the moonlight. He held a cutlass in hand, and his feet were planted firmly on the deck. There was no mistaking that he- in all his glory- was a pirate.  
  
Will met her eyes, and his mouth dropped open slightly. "Curse of the titans."  
  
TO BE CONTINUED!  
  
(Reviews make me write..don't forget dat mates!) 


	4. chapter FOUR

Chapter Four!  
  
***On the main deck of the Black Pearl***  
  
Elizabeth took only a brief moment to recognize him. And with that recognition, she was furious. "YOU!"  
  
Will took a few steps back as Elizabeth launched herself at him, barely keeping his face out of the reach of her nails. "Curses. You sail the sea but can't keep one girl under control!" Will turned and walked to the other side of the ship.  
  
Elizabeth kicked and screamed, landing hard stomp on a man's foot.  
  
The pirate released her, hopping up and down on one leg. With this spectacle, the other pirate who had her laughed, but was cut short when she kicked him in the groin. The expletives that one pirate emitted are not allowed in a G or a PG-13 rated fan fiction. So I wont put them in. But you get the idea.  
  
Suddenly, Elizabeth was free. With a piercing war-cry, she charged Will, her bare-feet carrying her quickly over the main deck. She caught him right in the back.  
  
The two of them went down in a mass of arms and legs. At first she was had him by surprise, but that surprise didn't last a heart-beat. Quickly, Will grabbed both of her wrists, holding them painfully tight.  
  
"Be still." He hissed in her ear. The other pirates hadn't caught up to her yet, and were clambering forward.  
  
Elizabeth looked up at him through her mess of hair, and through rasps of breath whispered, "You tricked me."  
  
"I swear I didn't know you're name or identity." Will replied in a harsh whisper. "For that I'm truly sorry. I'll keep you safe at all possible." Their faces were less then inches apart, and she glared up at him with the fierceness of a hurricane. Will glanced over at the other pirates, who were almost upon them. "Do as I say and I'll see no harm will come to you. You have my word."  
  
"The word of a pirate?" Elizabeth snarled. "Now I've indeed heard everything."  
  
Will frowned, and pushed her away, and back into the hands of his crew- mates. "See that she doesn't escape this time." He ordered.  
  
"Eye sir." A pirate said, reaching over and stroking Elizabeth's long hair.  
  
Will saw it. Immediately, he had his cutlas out and pressed against the pirate's neck. "The first nave to touch her will be dead within the same hour." He pressed the blade against the pirate's neck until it drew a small stream of blood. "Understood?"  
  
The pirate withdrew his hand, and nodded, his eyes wide. "Understood sir." He said, with only the faintest bit of a quiver in his voice.  
  
Will put down the blade and looked over the men. "Understood?"  
  
"Yes sir." The pirates answered.  
  
Will nodded. "Take her to the brig." The men did as they were told, and this time Will noticed that Elizabeth didn't fight as much. But still she did put up some resistance. As soon as she was safely out of site, Will glanced around, and found Brian. "Where's the Captain?"  
  
***Governor's Mansion***  
  
Jack groaned, rolling over, and opening his eyes. "Mph- where's me rum?!" It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but just as soon as they had he wished that somehow he was still dreaming. Above him, was the powdered face of Commodore Norrington, with his wig slightly singed, and his face the color of charcoal. "Ak." Jack murmured, feeling a harsh pain behind his eyes. "Let me get off to sleep, someone hit me head."  
  
"Your head should be the least of your worries." Norrington said. "Considering that your neck is going to be stretched very soon."  
  
***ONE DAY LATER***  
  
"We shouldn't have left him."  
  
Will looked around. "What do you think we should have done? Two fully armed British ships were on us. The odds were crazy." He glanced out over the deck, where all of the Pearl's crew stood. This type of confrontation of a Captain and a crew was not unheard of. In fact, he had watched it happen many times, but he had never been the one trying to keep control of the crew. That had always been Jack's job.  
  
"I still say something smells rotten." Another unseen pirate grumbled.  
  
"There isn't any 'rotton' about it." Will answered harshly. The bright morning was crisp and clear, with only a slight breeze over the Caribbean. It was a beautiful day, but the glares he was getting from his crew-mates weren't as beautiful. "We will return to Port Royal and free Jack as soon as possible."  
  
"Just as soon as they hang him!" Another pirate yelled.  
  
Elizabeth watched from the grating that served as a ceiling to the brig. She was still in her nightgown, and she stood there in the dirty muck of the ship's prison. Hungry, tired, and dirty she watched the proceedings. The way things were going it looked as if the crew were getting ready to mutiny, and that was definitely NOT something she wanted to happen. The pirates had already tried to slap her around earlier, and Will had taught just what that would get them. But without Will in command, she had no idea what would happen.  
  
Will stood there, looking out over the crowd. Brian stood next to him. "If anyone wants to challenge my temporary command, let them come and face me. And we'll just who will command this ship, and who is dead."  
  
There was a silence so complete aboard the ship that you could hear a pin drop.  
  
Will suddenly noticed, that Brian had left his side. Slowly, his best friend walked to the front of him.  
  
"I challenge you." Brian replied, that evil smile tugging at his lips.  
  
A gasp went through the crew of the Black Pearl.  
  
Will looked out at his best friend. He was being betrayed.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED! (Ah! Sorry it took so long, school is a pain!) 


	5. Chapter FIVE IVe UPDATED!

Chapter...whatever it is.  
  
Elizabeth watched from her prison under the main deck, through the grading. The silence among the crew was surprising, and she watched as the man she now understood to be the pirate Will Turner face his friend.  
  
Will's eyes took on the look of surprise, then betrayal, and then finally a fierce anger. "Fine." He growled.  
  
Bryan grinned. "Ah me heartie- so surprised. How predictable."  
  
Will drew his sword, and then took a step back. "Just unsuspected. Not everyday a friend turns mutinous on you."  
  
Bryan's blue eyes flashed. "Ahh, but I've been thinking to for a long time now." He drew his blade, and without a second's pause slashed out at his former best friend.  
  
Then, the silence and spell was broken. The crew erupted into chanting and shouts. Some were cheering for Will, others for Bryan. It turned into a ferocious gladiator game in minutes- only this was far better fighting than any gladiator could have thought to accomplish.  
  
Elizabeth watched as Will and Bryan went at each other with the fierceness of lions. But what amazed Elizabeth was how well they fought. They weren't two little boys with wooden swords hacking at each other- these were two swordsmen who had been probably holding a cutlas from the age of thirteen, and both merited the technique of masters.  
  
Bryan slashed, and Will jumped away, and then again jumped away as his former friend aimed to cleave his head in two. Reaching up, Will took the blade of another pirate suddenly had two swords in his hands. This didn't seem to be unexpected- because instantly Bryan had the same. It was a four bladed duel instantly.  
  
The crew loved it- and cheered louder as Bryan almost lost his head.  
  
"I should have known you would one day turn on me." Will said, as they locked blades.  
  
"Yes." Bryan said. "You should have."  
  
"But I wont make that mistake again!" Will sliced at Bryan again, and Bryan got out of the way just barely with his hide intact.  
  
"Temper, Temper." Bryan taunted. "You ought to remember from when we were boys- you always lost when you got angry."  
  
"I won't loose." Will said, "I'll cleave you in two and then everyone will know what happens when they cross me."  
  
The duel had taken them to the far side of the deck, and the crew scrambled to get away as their two would-be captains chased each other across the deck. None of them had seen these two fight- other simple disagreements. The crew had seen them both in action and knew just how well they could handle a blade, but never against each other except in practice. Now the great question arose, just who was better? Will, who had the brains? Or Bryan, who had all of the nastiness a pirate of the Caribbean could ever merit? Only time would tell, but still the greatness of the battle amazed them.  
  
Bryan slashed, and Will ducked away. But Will also jabbed upward and Bryan had to recoil like the snake he was. But this time he climbed up the rigging.  
  
Will followed. A sword clenched between his teeth and the other in his hand he crawled up the rigging of the Pearl like the sea-pirate he was. Coming after Bryan like a man possessed.  
  
Elizabeth tore her eyes from the spectacle above the grating and saw that the pirate posted at the brig was no more than inches away from her through the bars. More importantly the keys were less than inches away. With the right move she could perhaps-  
  
Will and Bryan stood up on the beam which supported the sails now, standing up there unsteadily they carried on the duel. Will had Bryan there trapped, there he could not scramble away, and like a cornered animal, Bryan fought fiercer than ever before. However, this time he also decided to use words.  
  
"So what now, Will Turner?" Bryan said as he backed unsteadily away on the beam as Will swiped at his chest. "Are ye going to kill yer best friend?"  
  
Will blinked. "Or you could surrender." He sneered.  
  
Bryan jabbed, but Will swayed away just in time, and landed a slash across Bryan's tanned face. Blood poured from the cut, and now it was Bryan's turn to look at Will with the look of a hurt betrayal in his eyes. He sliced savagely at Will, but overplayed his balance, thrashing desperately at mid air he began to plummet toward the deck.  
  
Suddenly, Will reached out, and caught Bryan's shirt collar. Bracing his mutinous's friend's weight against his own and saving him from the almost deadly fall. Will met Bryan's eyes, and to Will's surprise Bryan began to smile.  
  
"I knew you couldn't kill me." Bryan sneered. He wrapped his left foot in the ropes of sail rigging, and then slashed out at Will with the sword he still held in his hand.  
  
Now it was time for Will to recoil, but there was nowhere to go. Except down. Will flailed desperately to grab a hold of anything, but nothing brushed against his fingers except the empty air of the Caribbean.  
  
Gibbs watched as Will fell through the sky to land with a nauseating thump on the hard wood deck of the Black Pearl. All the pirates were silent. There was no cheering, even from the side who had wanted Bryan to be triumphant. If Bryan had won under better sportsmanship, perhaps he would have gotten an applause, but now it seemed he was no more worthy of it. No one seemed to remember whether Will had screamed on his way down, or had simply met his fate with dignity. Gibbs cursed all the oceans and even the Sea God Poseidon under his breath. He could still remember when young Will was merely a boy who would follow Jack around like a kid brother. "Poor lad." He mumbled. "God rest his soul."  
  
Suddenly, there was a shout that came from below. It was female, to everyone's surprise. "No!"  
  
Elizabeth ran out of the hold, and kneeled next to Will's motionless form. Hot tears sprang from her eyes, as she peered into Will's face. She grasped at his hand, trying to feel a pulse. "Don't die." She pleaded. "Oh please don't be dead." Considering that hours ago she had been so enraged at him she wanted to run him through, it was somewhat strange that now she was praying that his life had somehow been spared. But now it felt like her heart was going to break inside of her.  
  
Will didn't move. A stream of crimson blood rand down from his nose, and his eyes were shut tight.  
  
Suddenly, the pirates had her once again, and dragged her away from their former first-mate. Bryan, who had since climbed down from the rigging laughed as she struggled and bit at the crew.  
  
"Well now. It seems your mighty protect has been-" Bryan paused, stepping over Will's motionless form. "Slain. And you're here to say goodbye. Well. Say hello to your new protector."  
  
Elizabeth glared at Forsane, her eyes ablaze. "Murderer." She growled.  
  
Bryan laughed. "Pirate is the term I prefer my pretty." This time some of the crew laughed along with him, but not many. "And as your new protector and pirate-" He leaned close to Elizabeth, his face nearly touching hers. "I demand a kiss."  
  
Elizabeth squirmed, bringing out the pistol she had stolen from the pirate below decks. The shot was point-blank, and Forsane leaped away, howling with pain and clutching his shoulder.  
  
"Curse of the seven seas!" Bryan yelled, biting back hot tears from the pain. "Over the side with her! Let the sharks feast on her blasted carcass!"  
  
"But Captain!" The words felt foul in his mouth, but Biggs decided to use them anyway. "Without her, what will we trade Jack and the treasure for?"  
  
Bryan looked at Elizabeth, and then back at Biggs. "They don't know we've sent her to the brimmy now do they?" He sneered at Elizabeth. "And so, we'll get her daddy's treasure- and Jack. Because I'M not going to tell them."  
  
"I still don't think it's wise, sir." Biggs objected from where he knelt next to Will's body.  
  
"Ah!" Bryan yelled out. "What are you? A bunch of nannies?" He glanced around. "Fine! But she ain't going to stay on this ship. Lower down a row- boat and take the oars. We'll let her go adrift. That way you'll all be blasted satisfied!" Bryan began to storm off when suddenly-  
  
AnaMaria, the fierce pirate-lady, looked up from where she knelt beside Will. "He's still breathing!"  
  
There was a gasp that went through the entire crew. "It's a miracle." One pirate whispered. "No it aint!" Said another, "It's blasted black magic. We'll all be cursed."  
  
Everyone looked up at Bryan, who held his wounded shoulder. "Oh fine." he mumbled. "Lower him over the side with the girl."  
  
Elizabeth fought as the dragged her over to the side of the ship, and then lowered her into a long-boat. "What will you think you'll accomplish by this?" She yelled.  
  
The pirates only looked at her silently.  
  
"Commodore Norrington is not a fool, he'll see through this serenade!" Elizabeth screamed as they lowered her into the boat.  
  
"We have no choice." A pirate muttered in her ear. "Just be glad you aren't dining with the sharks tonight."  
  
Elizabeth watched as they lowered the unconscious Will Turner into the long- boat beside her, and then loosened the ropes that held the boat to the Pearl. Soon, the Black Pearl pulled away from them to eventually become only a black speck against the endless horizon of where the sea meets the sky.  
  
She looked around, and noticed that to the west dark storm clouds were brewing. "Great." She sighed, sitting down opposite Will. For a long while she sat there, until from her childhood she remembered the words to a song she hadn't sung since she was very young. But now it seemed like the right occasion. "Yo-ho, Yo-ho." She paused, trying to remember the words. "A pirate's life for me."  
  
It was then, that the thunder cracked, and the first hint of a breeze caressed her skin. All of a sudden, Elizabeth wondered just how a small long-boat could survive in one of the fierce hurricanes of the Caribbean.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED!  
  
(A.N. So how was that? Was it worth the wait? I hope it was. Reviews would be appreciated.) 


	6. CHAPTER SIX!

Chapter whatever two:  
  
The storm had arisen on the Caribbean Seas. Black clouds covered the sky, and deafening thunder made the very air vibrate. Not to mention the lightning which came in blinding flashes of pure light. Huge waves rolled over sea, and only by a miracle the long-boat had stayed afloat for so long. Now it was taking on water with each wave.  
  
Elizabeth bucketed out water with her hands. Her hair had since come down out of it's string, and was wet and clinging to her face. She was drenched, and tired. "Curses!" They didn't need a hole in the boat to sink them, they were going to sink anyway.  
  
Suddenly, she heard a roar behind her. Elizabeth turned, her eyes almost popping out of her skull. What she saw, was a wave over fifty feet high bearing down on them. With a strange sense of fear and dread, she realized that this could be her end. She watched as it came over the long-boat, blocking out whatever light there was from the lightning.  
  
With that, she reached over unconsciously, and grabbed Will Turner's shirt collar. The slumbering pirate hadn't shown any signs of life except his unsteady breathing since they had been put to drift. But with a prayer, perhaps he would miraculously come to life without drowning in his sleep. But there wasn't time enough to say a prayer.  
  
The wave crashed down for a brief moment of a thundering blast. Then, as Elizabeth was thrown out of the ship, water enveloped everything. There was no up, or down, or sideways. Not even sound, or light. Only the endless movement of the sea around her.  
  
Amazingly, Elizabeth kept a firm grip on Will's shirt collar. Perhaps it was out of the panic which made her want to grasp onto anything that wasn't water. Through the endless tumbling of the wave, somehow she felt her head pop out of the water and Elizabeth gasped at the open air. But that was only for a brief moment, and again she was under again.  
  
She realized suddenly, that not only was the pirate dragging her down, her infernal dress was as well. As she was dragged deeper and deeper to the brimmy deep, she struggled with her infernal dress. She and Will went down for what seemed like forever. Until everything was pitch black, and her lungs wanted to burst in her chest. That was when she felt movement beside her. For a terrifying moment she thought that the sharks had come to claim her, but did sharks have hands?  
  
Her dress was off in a moment, and all that she was wearing was her white undies. But that was alright, having that demonic piece of cloth from around her made her float again towards the stormy surface. Not to mention, that someone had her by the hair and was steadily pulling her up. Not the most graceful way of saving someone from drowning, ripping their dress of until someone was only in the unders, and then dragging them up by the hair. Very un-gentlemanly. If she ever got out of this blasted ocean she was going to slap that pirate Will Turner. If was the last thing she'd do.  
  
Elizabeth couldn't remember when she went unconscious. Perhaps before her head broke free of the salt-water? Well, it may sound cowardly but, she reasoned, at least this way it wouldn't hurt so badly.  
  
***Prison***  
  
"That's CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow." Jack corrected as he was shoved unceremoniously into his cell. He watched as the soldiers walked away. "Don't forget it!"  
  
But the soldiers didn't pay any attention to him whatsoever, they only went back past the cells muttering about 'Bloody pirates'.  
  
Jack sighed, and looked around. Luckily, there didn't seem to be any other inhabitant of his cell. He never liked roommates anyway, they always talked too much.  
  
"What are you Captain of boy?" A horse whisper asked from the opposite cell.  
  
Jack peered into the darkness. "Oh nothing." He swaggered over to sit next to the wall. "You might of heard of her though, the ahh- Black Pearl."  
  
There was a pause from the dark corner of the other cell. "I've heard of her. She's said to be fast."  
  
"Narr." Jack shook his head. "She isn't fast. She's uncatchable, unbeatable, and the best pirate ship in the Caribbean."  
  
"Is that so." Said the voice.  
  
Jack rubbed his head, he still had a fierce headache and that man's old croaking wasn't helping. Forget roommates, he had neighbors, and they seemed to be worse. "Yes." He answered irritably. "That's so. And if you don't mind I'd like for you to shut-up now since I've got a bluddering headache and don't want to talk to the local drunk if you please."  
  
"I taint no drunk boy." Said the voice in the far corner.  
  
Jack paused, peering out of his cell. "Show your face." There was no sign of movement. "Now sir if you please."  
  
The shadow obliged, and out of it came an old man. But through the grizzle on his face and the scars, the man's bright blue eyes shone out like pieces of the ocean he had sailed on.  
  
Jack tried not to show surprise, but he did anyway. "Black Bart Roberts. But I heard you were dead."  
  
Bart shook his graying head. "I was retired. And it's Captain if YOU please."  
  
Jack sat up, looking at the legend in the cell across from him. "Why are you here mate? Where's your fleet?"  
  
"Gone." Bart answered. "Like the winter's snow on a spring day. And like you, it seems, I was betrayed."  
  
***An Isle- Somewhere in the Caribbean***  
  
Swoosh.  
  
Swoosh-shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  
  
Elizabeth Swan opened her eyes slowly to the bright sunlight. Water crept to her face, and came in and then out. It was the tide brushing up over the sand. Sand? The last time she'd checked, she was on her way to Davey Jones' locker to become one of the sea's captives and to reside there forever. Elizabeth frowned. That wasn't the only thing a-mis.  
  
Looking down, she saw that someone had their arm around her waist. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the face of that bloody pirate. Without really thinking, Elizabeth swung her arm around and back-handed him across the face.  
  
Will let out a mix between a painful cry and a groan.  
  
Elizabeth rolled away.  
  
"Ruddy girl!" Will yelled still lying on his back but fully awake and gingerly touching his nose.  
  
Miss Swan got unsteadily to her feet, and glanced around. "Where are we?"  
  
Will didn't look at her. "How the hell should I know?"  
  
Elizabeth watched as Will rolled over on his side, letting out a barely audible moan. She sighed, walking over to him, and giving him some shade in her shadow from the hard mid-day sun. Glancing over, she saw some palm trees in the middle of the island. Underneath them there were a couple patches of grass, and more shade. After all, she had to admit he saved her life, and she had repaid him with a smack in the nose. He deserved some shade, even if he was a pirate.  
  
Leaning down, Elizabeth took Will's hand, and partially hauled him to his feet. He was a bit unsteady, but she put his arm around her shoulder and together they marched toward the middle of the island.  
  
"Oh." Will mumbled. "That's a good lass. Fine lass. Such a good lass." Elizabeth looked at him. His black hair was matted and in his face, and his nose had started to bleed again. Suddenly, she felt a pang in her heart. If only he was anybody but that famous pirate Will Turner. Anyone else. Even a blacksmith, she didn't care.  
  
To Be Continued  
  
(A.N. What do YOU think will happen next? Are ye right or wrong? Fill me in me hearties!) 


	7. chapter seven

(A.N. Since I haven't gotten any reviews yet, I don't know whether you guys are out there still. But heres hoping that you all have a merry Christmas! I probably wont be updating until afterwards, so consider this a Christmas present! Yo-ho mates! To adventure and treasure we go!)  
  
Chapter...10?  
  
"We have to do something!" Elizabeth yelled.  
  
Will rubbed his throbbing temples. "For what point and purpose young missy?!" He got up, and began walking from under one patch of palm trees to the next.  
  
"My father is out there, and he will pay almost all of his fortune to see me home." She wiped her now-dried hair out of her face, and sighed. "And those scummy pirates will probably only try to kill him for it, by attacking his ship."  
  
Will glared at her. "Scummy is it?" He shook his head, and then paced across the sand. "Well, you got one thing right. They will attack his ship, but knowing Jack's crew, they will overtake his ship. Hell, if they wanted to, the Pearl could easily take on half the navy if given the advantage."  
  
Elizabeth couldn't say anything for a moment, but painfully for Will, that moment was short-lived. "So you admit that those pirates will take everything from me, and perhaps even the life of my father?"  
  
Will looked up at her, his dark eyes flashing. "If you call that admitting, I guess so."  
  
Elizabeth turned her back on him, furious. "Than I wish I was back on that dratted ship, so that I could at least be ransomed, and not be in such foul company."  
  
Will laughed nastily. "Oh, so that's how it is?" He walked up to her, and turned her by the shoulders to face him. "Without me there, by now I am sure you would be worse than dead Miss Swan." He pushed her away. "And you should be glad for my company, since it was me who saved you from sinking to the bottom of Davy Jones's locker!"  
  
Now any normal girl would have cowered in Will Turner's anger, but not Elizabeth Swan. She was too gutsy for it. "And you would have been fed to the sharks!" She yelled, her eyes blazing. "And so the world would have been rid of one more filthy, foul-smelling, horrid, ill-mannered, unshaven, PIRATE!"  
  
Will writhed in his anger. Who in the world did this girl think she was? He'd killed men for less! "I-" He bit his lip, and wrung his hands at her. "Am not foul-smelling!" With that, he stalked off. Or as far as the tiny island would permit, which wasn't far.  
  
"But you know how we can save him!" Elizabeth ran after him. "You kidnaped the governor of Tortuga, evaded five agents of the East India Trading Company, and escaped hanging numerous times!" She paused, looking up almost pleadingly into his eyes. "I know you can help me save my father."  
  
Will paused, glancing down at her. "First," He said, more calmly this time. "Every pirate and his brother has kidnaped the Governor of Tortuga. It's sorta like a game we play. Secondly, I wouldn't believe all the rumors ya can hear love." With that, he walked around her again.  
  
Elizabeth cursed under her breath and rolled her eyes. "So you're a fake!" She paused, glancing at his back. "Of course, I shouldn't be surprised." She murmured, "It hasn't been the first time I was wrong about who you REALLY were."  
  
Will turned so fast he kicked up sand. "If you mean when we were back at Port Royal, you were lying just as much as I!"  
  
Elizabeth walked right up to him. "You told me you were a sailor! Not a pirate."  
  
Will shrugged. "There isn't much of a difference!"  
  
"A sailor doesn't steal for his living!" Elizabeth countered, shaking her slender index finger at his face. "He works for his pay!"  
  
"And you aint just a mere noble-woman!" Will said. "There is a big difference between a rich lady of the islands, and the blasted Governor's daughter!"  
  
"I never said I was a rich-woman." Elizabeth objected.  
  
"You never said you wasn't!" Will answered.  
  
"Well, what's the difference?!"  
  
"A PIRATE, made good could eventually court a rich woman." Will said. " But the governor's daughter, who happened to be engaged to the Commodore of the Island, is rather out of reach. Because the Commodore would have the pirate hanged even after he had made good."  
  
Elizabeth paused. "Hold on, how did you know about-"  
  
Will's eyes flared. "We pirates have grape vines missy."  
  
"Well, I haven't answered him yet!" Elizabeth yelled.  
  
Will threw his hands in the air, aggravated.  
  
Elizabeth closed her lips into a determined line, crossing her arms. The two of them had been shouting at each other and standing less than three feet away at the same time, so the silence was very loud. "So, are any of the stories true? Are you in any way what people say you are?"  
  
Will looked at her, his glare hard. "What people say?" He rolled up one of his sleeves, and to Elizabeth's surprise, showed on his wrist a brand of a P. Then he lifted his shirt, showing what at first Elizabeth thought to be claw marks on his side but then identified them as a scars left from the maws of a shark. Finally he pulled at his collar, displaying three ugly blotches across his shoulder which were undoubtedly left behind from bullet wounds.  
  
"I am Will Turner." Will said coldly. "First mate to Jack Sparrow, who is Captain of the Black Pearl." He paused. "I am a pirate."  
  
Elizabeth looked at him, finally growing silent. Will pushed past her again, but this time she didn't follow him. Instead she looked out across the shimmering blue Caribbean. What type of fate had led her to this? She was abandoned on an island, the young man she had met turned out to be a pirate, and she now was parched.  
  
"Elizabeth." Will called from behind her.  
  
"It's Miss Swan." Elizabeth said, not turning around.  
  
"Okay. Fine." Will muttered. "Miss Swan. Are you thirsty?"  
  
"Yes." Elizabeth answered.  
  
"Than here."  
  
A bottle rolled down the beach beside her, and Elizabeth dived to pick it up. As soon as she had it in her hands, she noticed it to be rum. She glanced up at Will, who had a bottle in each hand. "What's this?"  
  
Will rolled his eyes. "What does it look like?"  
  
Elizabeth examined the dusty bottle. "It looks like rum."  
  
"Well than that's what it is." Will answered.  
  
"But how is it here?" Elizabeth asked, struggling to uncork the bottle.  
  
Will walked over to her, setting his bottles in the sand, and taking the stubborn bottle from Elizabeth's hands. "Rum runners, love." Without so much as a grimace, he uncorked the bottle and gave it back to her.  
  
"And how do you know about this stash?" Elizabeth asked.  
  
Will retrieved his bottles from the sand, and grinned. "Let's just say I've stayed here before." With that, he clinked one of his bottles against hers, threw back his head, and drank down some of the cheap rum.  
  
Elizabeth sighed. "Drink up me hearties, yo-ho."  
  
Will paused. "What was that?"  
  
***FIVE HOURS LATER*** 


	8. chapter eight!

Chapter...Whatever.  
  
****Five hours later***  
  
"Yo-ho, yo-ho," Will sang as he ran after Elizabeth around the large fire they had made out of drift-wood. "A pirate's life for me!"  
  
"We pillage we plunder, we rifle, we loot. Drink up me hearties, yo-ho." Elizabeth continued, still holding the same bottle Will had given her hours earlier.  
  
Will Turner, pirate and one of the pirate pride of the Caribbean, downed a couple more gulps of watered-down cheap rum. Then unceremoniously he dropped to the sand, and lay back laughing. "I love this song." He looked up at Elizabeth, who was standing over him. "I'm gonna tell it to Jack, and then you'll see just badly HE can sing." Will blinked, looking up at the starry heavens. "Oh." He groaned. "Jack is going to kill me for losing his crew." He rubbed his forhead.  
  
Elizabeth glared at him. "Jack Sparrow? And how did a nice boy end up to be with a pirate like him anyway?" She sat down unsteadily next to him.  
  
"Very long story." Will sighed. "Agh. I can usually drink better than this. It must be because of that nasty bump I got on my noggin."  
  
"Well, what is it?" Elizabeth asked.  
  
"It's right there." Will rubbed the back of his head.  
  
"No, I mean the story!" Elizabeth insisted.  
  
Will swayed. "Oh." He laughed. "When I was a boy, I came looking for my father after my mother died. Pirates sunk the ship I was on, and I was left adrift. That's when Jack showed up. He took me under his wing, and later I became his first mate."  
  
Elizabeth laid back against the sand. "It sounds so simple."  
  
"It wasn't." Will replied. "It turned out I had the last piece of cursed Aztec gold. My father had been one who was cursed also along with Jack's mutinous crew. They needed my blood and that lost piece to lift the curse."  
  
Elizabeth sat up. "I hardly believe in ghost stories, but what kind of curse was this?"  
  
Will looked her in the eyes. "A most terrible curse. They were living but dead, and couldn't feel any of the pleasures in life." He paused, wondering weather Elizabeth believed him or not. It was clear that she didn't. "But what was most interesting was that they'd turn into skeletons in the moonlight." He smiled, and then flicked his hand in the air. A curious smile crossed Elizabeth's face. It was a cross between scorn and laughter. "I have to admit, you are a good one at telling stories."  
  
Will rolled his eyes, looking away. "It taint stories love. I've felt that curse me self, and it aint nice."  
  
"What do you mean you've 'felt it'. Only a moron would curse himself." Elizabeth retorted.  
  
"I was a boy of ten. What did I know of that?"  
  
Elizabeth paused. "You were only ten?"  
  
"Maybe eleven." Will rubbed his forehead. "My mind is groggy."  
  
"Well, since we're outside in the moonlight, and you aren't transparent, it seems the curse was lifted." Elizabeth reasoned.  
  
"Yep." Will chuckled, "A quick blood-letting at the hand and the return of the stolen piece meant I was free. It left a strange scar though."  
  
"And what about that P. On your wrist?" Elizabeth asked, coking her head to the side.  
  
Will sat his bottle in the sand next to him, and rolled up his sleeve. "P." He smiled. "For pirate."  
  
Elizabeth lifted an eyebrow. "I could have guessed that. But how did you get the brand?"  
  
Will sat up unsteadily. "That brand, is what you get when you're caught by the East India Trading Company. Before they leave you in one of those black prison ships to rot in a hellish grave."  
  
Elizabeth tried not to look surprised, but she did anyway. "You were caught?"  
  
Will took another gulp of the rum. "Yup. Me and Jack. He came back after me, when I was left by his crew. But I had already been captured, so it wasn't any use anyway." He swayed in close to her, trying to look serious, but laughing anyway.  
  
"How did you escape?" She asked.  
  
"Ack." Will shrugged. "Nasty memory. I was small enough that I could swim through one of the sewage holes, and then out. Later I got Jack's friends, raided the prison ship, and set all free." He smiled. "But from then on I was officially a member of the crew, and the men treated me like it."There was a little bit of pride in his voice, and his dark eyes looked at her quietly.  
  
"Small enough?" Elizabeth looked at him. "How old were you then?"  
  
Will paused, trying to remember through the bottles of rum he had just downed. "Fourteen. Maybe."  
  
Elizabeth's jaw dropped. "They branded a fourteen year old?"  
  
Will shrugged. "Well, when they caught me I had already mowed through a large percent of their men. So they weren't exactly eyeing me as a kiddie."  
  
Elizabeth nodded quietly, turning her a third empty rum bottle over in her hands. "So that's how it is, is it?"  
  
Will shrugged. "I guess so." He looked around at the small island. "But you know, I don't always intend to be first mate to Jack always."  
  
"You don't, huh?" Elizabeth muttered.  
  
"No." Will slurred. "One day, I want a ship of me own." He swayed. "It doesn't have to be as fast as the Pearl, or as huge as a battleship. Just something small to start myself out on. Then, I'll build with it. Then, I'll eventually have my own fleet." He looked away, smiling quietly.  
  
"And you will be the most notorious pirate of the Caribbean." Elizabeth added.  
  
Will smiled at her. "Not jist the Caribbean. The entire world." He laughed. "I already am famous in the Caribbean." He glanced at her. "And if you haven't married Port Royal's Commodore, and had three little soldiers by then, you could come with me if you want."  
  
Elizabeth laughed. "Where would we go?"  
  
Will motioned out toward the endless sea. "Anywhere! Love. Wherever you want to go. Spain, France, Italy." He leaned close. "Whatever you want, wherever you want. That's what a ship is. Total and absolute freedom." He whispered.  
  
Elizabeth looked at him. So this is who Will Turner was. Pirate, seaman, and fighter. She had to admit, he wasn't so bad as pirates went.  
  
Will laughed, taking up his bottle again. "If you did come with me, just think about the fun we'd have, eh Miss Swan?"  
  
"Oh yes." Elizabeth looked around the tiny island. "Lots of fun."  
  
Will took a couple of gulps and sighed, laying back down. "I-" he rubbed his head. "Think I've had enough rum for now."  
  
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "After three bottles of watered down anything, I would think you would have had-" She paused, looking down at where he lay on his back in the sand, asleep and dead drunk.  
  
Elizabeth looked at the fire not too far off, and then at the bottle of rum in her hand. Her original idea would have worked. But that would place Will Turner at the mercy of Commodore Norrington, who hated pirates with a passion. For the moment, she didn't want to see this particular pirate at the hangman's noose. No, she would let her plan go. Perhaps he had something up his sleeve she didn't know about anyway.  
  
-To Be Continued  
  
(A.N. Yes. Will does have something up his sleeve...but can ye guess what it is?) 


	9. chapter ninewoa

Chapter?  
  
(A.N. Okay, I hope you have had a great New Year! Mine was fun. A thousand apologies for not updating sooner.everything has been hectic)  
  
***On a Small Speck of an Island Somewhere in the Caribbean***  
  
Will Turner awoke with a horrible headache. It was mid-day already, but he hadn't been able to tell because he had put his arm over his head. Groaning, he opened his eyes to the brightness of the day.  
  
"Well, if it isn't Will Turner." A familiar but gruff voice said beside him.  
  
Will recognized the voice immediately. "If it aint my old friend Captain Savard." Will sat up to look into the face of a grisly man in his fifties. Savard was well dressed, for a pirate, and his hat had a large feather in it.  
  
"Now tell me young Will, by what misfortune be ye landed on this spit of land without a ship or crew?" Savard asked, giving him a hand up.  
  
Will's face showed the anger he felt at the situation. "Mutiny and marooning." He growled.  
  
Savard shrugged. "And the woman?"  
  
Will looked over to where two pirates were walking down toward the beach where Elizabeth lay still asleep. "The daughter of Port Royal's Governor. I'd be careful to wake her gently if I were you." He mumbled.  
  
Unfortunately for the two pirates, they had not overheard that particular part of Will's conversation. One shook Elizabeth's shoulder hard, both peering down at her.  
  
Elizabeth blinked open her eyes, and the cringed in surprise. But that surprise only lasted an instant. She kicked out hard, landing her feet in the two very unsuspecting men's shins.  
  
The two pirates cried out in pain as their legs were kicked out from under them, and Elizabeth rolled away. "Will!" She yelled. "Pirates!"  
  
Will nodded. "I know. Friends of mine, don't worry about it."  
  
Elizabeth looked around, for the first time seeing the landing boats, the two dozen men on the shore, and the large ship out on the blue sea. "Friends of yours?" She glanced down at the pirates who had awakened her and noticed they were growling under their breath.  
  
Savard laughed, but then stopped and glanced at Will with suspicion in his glare. "She doesn't act like a prisoner. What be she to you?"  
  
Will rubbed his head. "A prisoner. Of sorts."  
  
Savard rubbed his graying beard. "A sweetheart then?"  
  
Will cocked his head to the side. "She might have been at one time."  
  
Savard laughed. "So you kidnaping her didn't improve on the relationship ay?"  
  
Will shrugged.  
  
Captain Savard looked Will up and down, taking in the ripped cloths, and no boots appearance of a man who just got washed up on an island. "Come aboard the Evening Star " He said, slapping Will on the back. "I'll get you and your prisoner some water and fresh cloths."  
  
Will nodded, glancing to where Elizabeth was coming toward him over the drifted sand.  
  
Savard chuckled. "I have someone for you to talk to."  
  
***Aboard the Pirate-Ship Evening Star***  
  
Elizabeth and Will had been showed to Captain Savard's quarters to get their clothes and to change. While Elizabeth stood behind one of the large doors of a cloths dresser, Will changed next to the Captain's table.  
  
"So who is this Captain Savard?" Asked Elizabeth's muffled voice from behind the dresser door.  
  
Will put on a loose long-sleeved white shirt and buttoned it. "An old friend of mine and Jack's. He's been pirating since before I was born, and was a good friend of my father's." Will put on some leather boots and once again tied his faded sash around his waist.  
  
"But you know, Bryan what-his-name was your best friend a little while ago too." Elizabeth countered.  
  
Will rolled his eyes, roughly putting on and fastening the buckle of his belt. "Why do you always try my patience, woman?" He asked, frustrated.  
  
"I am just stating a fact." Elizabeth answered.  
  
Will pulled his black hair behind his neck and tied it there in a piece of sting. "Just let me handle things." He muttered, walking over to the dresser door. "You could get us into a lot of trouble with that mouth of yours."  
  
"Fine." Elizabeth answered hotly from behind the door. "But if you tried talking your way out of things, instead of using the sword to get yourself out of every scrape, we might not even be here." With that, Elizabeth stepped around from the door.  
  
Will stopped short. Elizabeth wore brown pants, a loose red shirt that was buttoned low, and a pair of boots. She must have ran her fingers through her hair because it wasn't as much the disheveled mess that she had come aboard with. Her long brown hair now lay down her left shoulder, and her blue eyes looked at him with the same fire as always. He blinked after a moment. "Y-you look good in those cloths."  
  
Elizabeth looked at him strangely.  
  
"I mean," He said, trying to cover up his earlier surprise. "Not a lot of girls could wear that and still look good." He paused, turning a little red under his dark tan. "Not that I've seen a lot of girls dress like that."  
  
Elizabeth looked at him. Funny how he could be a hard pirate with all the nastiness that entails one moment, and then someone totally different the next. It had been the same way down at the marketplace the first time they had met. And now that someone else was looking out at her again, that someone else who could compensate for whatever nastiness done earlier with merely a couple of insecure words. Despite herself, Elizabeth Swan felt the corners of her mouth turn up into a soft smile.  
  
It was then, that the doors to the Captain's cabin were flung open, and in strode a colorful, LURCHING figure, who wore a three-cornered hat, a cutlass at his side, and a bandanna around his head.  
  
There stood Jack Sparrow. Interrupting the perfect moment.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED!  
  
(A.N. WHEW! That was surprising. Don't shoot me yet, I'll update REALLY soon. Yes I know I haven't really filled you in on that miraculous escape yet, but we should be used to that right?) 


End file.
